Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-25726

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason transcripts of court cases are reportedly not provided to those involved in the case, free of charge, on request.

The provision of court transcripts to those involved in the case, other than a person convicted at the trial, is governed by Section 94(2)(b) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 which allows for, on payment of the relevant costs, and subject to the Transcripts of Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Order 1993, the Clerk of Justiciary to direct that a transcript be made and sent to the person who requested it. A cost is therefore incurred whenever a transcript is prepared, and in common with other parts of the UK, unless in specific circumstances, those costs currently require to be met by the requester as opposed to the wider public finances.

That having been said, we have listened to campaigners and survivors on a number of concerns that have been raised about the financial challenges associated with the access to transcripts for rape and sexual offences complainers.

From 1 March 2024, the Scottish Government will be in the first in the UK to launch a pilot which will allow complainers in High Court cases involving charges of rape or sexual assault to have free access to transcripts of their court cases.

The pilot will improve our understanding of the reasons why applications are being made in these particular cases. This will include understanding the potential volume of applications and the extent to which cost has been a barrier for applying previously.

The pilot and associated evaluation process will help inform future policy and operational development, including how the criteria for accessing free transcripts may develop, the potential implications on the public finances, and whether there is a need for a change to existing legislation.

Question reference: S6W-25336

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23198 by Maree Todd on 11 December 2023, whether it will provide clarification on whether the start of treatment for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) patients is the first initial appointment that they have following a referral to CAMHS, and, if this is the case, what the waiting times are for treatment following this initial appointment.

Public Health Scotland defines ‘start of treatment’ as “when a patient’s treatment starts noting that not all people who are referred go on to have treatment. Some people attend an assessment appointment, need no further treatment, and so are removed from the waiting list. Some people are offered treatment but decide not to go ahead.”

Most children and young people attend a first appointment for assessment and there are three main outcomes of that first appointment:

(i) The child or young person needs no further treatment from CAMHS but is provided with personalised and meaningful signposting. At this point the reported waiting time is stopped and they are removed from the waiting list;

(ii) Some children and young people are offered treatment but decide not to go ahead. At this point the reported waiting time is stopped and they are removed from the waiting list;

(iii) Treatment is offered and accepted; and either treatment begins at this appointment and the reported waiting time is stopped, or a treatment appointment is offered and the reported waiting time stops when that treatment appointment happens.

The waiting time to the start of treatment will depend on the complexity of each individual case, the specific intervention that has been recommended and the availability of professionals trained to provide that intervention. All children and young people offered treatment in CAMHS should meet the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) referral criteria and receive support in line with the CAMHS National Service Specification.

Question reference: S6W-25487

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 1 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many registered pathologists there have been in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-25635

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 1 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24855 by Gillian Martin on 6 February 2024, how many members of staff are currently working in the Energy Consents Unit; in relation to the increased staffing resource, by how many the current number of staff in the unit has increased by since 2022-23; whether it expects the unit's budget to increase in 2024-25, and, if so, by how much.

Question reference: S6O-03158

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the finance secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding the impact of its current income tax policy, in light of reports that higher taxes could deter experienced professionals from moving to Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-25637

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 28 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the increase in the number of storms in Scotland in recent months compared with 2022-23, whether it will increase Scottish Forestry’s budget to reflect the increase in its workload due to these storms.

Question reference: S6W-25239

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 26 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce grants for medical students, similar to the Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (PNMSB) scheme, which is administered by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS).

Question reference: S6W-25238

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 26 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support is available to medical students during placement years, when they are unable to work elsewhere.

Scottish domiciled medical students are eligible for the standard student support package which is comprised of tuition fees and living cost support throughout the full duration of their medical degree. Additionally the most disadvantaged students can access up to £9,000 per year through a bursary and loans with the Scottish student support package currently the highest it has ever been. All Scottish domiciled students, irrespective of circumstances are eligible for a loan of up to £6,000 a year for the full duration of their medical degree.

It should be noted that students studying on the ScotGEM programme are eligible to claim a return of service bursary of £4,000 per year. This is only available to ScotGEM students, and for each year of the bursary accepted the students is required to work in NHS Scotland for the corresponding number of years.

Question reference: S6W-25091

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 16 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what additional requirements exist for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in relation to the monitoring of large battery storage units.

There is no additional statutory requirement on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) to monitor large battery storage unit sites.

SFRS continually review and develop their operational response to any new and emerging technology to keep communities safe. SFRS is committed to work in collaboration with key partners to ensure the highest level of preparedness for potential incidents involving lithium-ion batteries or similar storage facilities.

In the event of incidents involving these facilities, SFRS have the ability to deploy a range of resources that can be utilised by the highly skilled crews to successfully bring the incidents to a safe conclusion.

Question reference: S6W-25067

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 15 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what recent consideration it has given to funding a new health centre in Banchory.

As set out in the draft Scottish Government budget, the capital funding position is extremely challenging due to the UK Government’s decision to cut our capital budget by nearly 10%.

The capital budget settlement allows for Health Boards’ delegated capital budgets to be maintained at 23-24 levels, for all major projects in construction to be completed and for continued support for the national replacement programmes for ambulances and radiotherapy equipment. Given the current uncertainty regarding availability of funding, regrettably, we have advised boards to pause any new capital projects until capital funding becomes more certain.

Our Infrastructure Investment Plan identified priority health capital projects for funding within that period. As a result of UK Government cuts, we will bring forward a revised Infrastructure Investment Plan in the spring. All due consideration will be given to what projects can be included to ensure the revised Plan is affordable and deliverable.